Page 49 of My Bodyguard’s The Boss

“I want to show him I’m serious.”

“After a week,” Ben emphasized. “This is fast, even for you.”

“No,” Dominic said. “It’s not. I know him, Ben. We work well together.”

Ben rolled his eyes so obviously Dominic stuck his elbow into his side again. Or, he tried to. Ben ducked out of the way and then slammed into Dominic with such force he went sprawling into the damp sand.

“I’ll give Rick a call,” Ben called back, jogging away.

Dominic laughed. Then he heaved himself up, rubbing wet sand out of his hair with a grimace and wondering what kind of O-chain Austin would like.

CHAPTER 16

Austin’s phone rang when he was getting ready for a shower.

He grabbed it, giving the screen a goofy smile when he saw who it was. He clicked accept and placed the phone on the bed beside him. “Hey, you.”

“Hi,” Dominic replied. “What are you doing tonight? Did the director cancel again?”

“Nope,” Austin said, shucking his shirt. “Going in for a line read. Want to come over after?”

“Sounds great,” Dominic said. “I have a surprise for you.”

Austin threw his shirt into his laundry hamper. “Oh yeah? Is it a sexy surprise?”

“Maybe,” Dominic said.

Austin’s mind raced with a hundred possibilities. Would Dominic tell him about another fantasy? Would there be any more roleplaying? Austin was surprised by how much he’d enjoyed it last time. It was like acting, but infinitely more exciting and personal. And no one was yelling “cut” or telling him to get on his mark.

“You might have to wait a while,” Austin said reluctantly. “This line reading will take a few hours.”

“That’s fine,” Dominic said, too fast. “I’ll be waiting when you get back.”

Austin rubbed his inked pecs. There was a faint layer of regrowth there, which was generally when he’d book his next wax appointment. But he’d been thinking about letting it grow out a little after Dominic mentioned that he hated that Austin had to do all this maintenance. Austin also hated it, but it was so normal in the acting business he’d stopped bitching about it years ago. He could at least let it grow back to normal between shoots.

“Do I need to do anything to get myself ready?” Austin asked. “I’m getting in the shower. How thorough do I need to be?”

“Thorough,” Dominic replied.

Austin grinned. “Noted.”

His phone beeped. Austin pulled himself out of the sudden wave of fantasies and checked it.

“Levi’s trying to FaceTime me,” Austin said.

“Take it,” Dominic told him. “I’ll see you when you get back.”

“You got it.” Austin hung up the call and clicked FaceTime. “Hey man, how’s Barcelona?”

“What? I got back ages ago,” said Levi distractedly. He was in a hotel room, wrapped in a fluffy white bathrobe and looking so concerned that Austin started looking him over for injuries. The last time Levi looked so worried, it was because he walked into a revolving door and bruised his cheekbone, meaning he had to drop out of a photoshoot.

“You look serious,” Austin said. He lay back on his bed, checking the time. “Whatever it is, talk fast. I have to be at a line reading in forty minutes, and I still gotta shower.”

“Right, yeah, cool,” Levi said. Then he stared at the screen, lips pursed reluctantly.

Austin narrowed his eyes. “Dude. Just tell me. Don’t drag it out.”

“Right, yeah,” Levi said again. He bit his lip, which was probably covered in some stupid lip balm filled with ingredients that Austin wasn’t convinced were real. Some of the fruits Levi told him about had to be fake.